MXPA00008168A - Electrical connector including means for terminating the shield of a high speed cable. - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical connector (14) includes a dielectric housing (60) and a plurality of terminals (24,32) mounted therein. A conductive ground blade (28) is mounted in the housing and includes at least a pair of positioning arms (52) projecting therefrom for engaging the metallic shields of a pair of coaxial cables. A partition (96) on the housing extends between the positioning arms (52) to separate the coaxial cables and maintain the metallic shields near the positioning arms.

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR THAT INCLUDES MEANS TO COMPLETE THE SHIELD OF A HIGH-SPEED CABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION. This invention is generally related to the technique of electrical connectors and, in particular, to a connector for a plurality of coaxial cables and which includes a system for terminating the metallic shielding of high-speed cables, such as the metallic braids of the cables. A typical high speed cable includes a central conductor or a core surrounded by a tube similar to the inner dielectric. A shield is disposed outside the internal dielectric to shield and / or ground the cable. The shield is typically a tubular metal braid. However, one or more longitudinal conductor cables are also used and are commonly called "consumer cables". An insulation cover surrounds the composite cable outside the shield. Several types of connectors are used to terminate high-speed cables. The conductors typically have contacts that end in the center conductor or core of the cable. The conductors also have one form or another of a termination member to terminate the metallic shielding of the high-speed cable, usually for grounding purposes. A typical system in such connectors terminates the metal shielding with the termination member by welding or tinning. Other systems use embossing processes to draw at least one portion of the termination member securely to the metal braid. The constant miniaturization of electronics in various industries, such as the telecommunications and computer industries, along with the accompanying miniaturization of electrical connectors, has resulted in considerable problems in the termination of miniature high-speed cable, particularly to complete shielding metallic cable. For example, the outside diameter of a small coaxial cable may be in the order of 0.228 cm (0.090 inches). The outer diameter of the inner dielectric surrounding the conductor / core may be in the order of 0.129 cm (0.051 inches), and the diameter of the core / core conductor may be in the order of 0.030 cm (0.012 inches). Having even smaller dimensional parameters have been used.The problems in finishing the coaxial cables very often revolve around the termination of the metallic shielding of the cable.For example, if welding methods are used, the application of heat (necessary to soldering) in a direct vicinity to the metal shield can cause heat damage to the underlying inner dielectric and, in fact, substantially disintegrates or degrades the inner dielectric.If conventional fill-type terminations are used, typical embossing forces will very often crush or they will deform the inner dielectric surrounding the central conduit / core of the cable, in any case, the damage or Deformation of the inner dielectric will change the electrical characteristics of the cable. The above problems are further complicated when the metallic shielding of the high speed cable is not terminated in a cylindrical termination member, but the shielding is terminated in a flat termination member or contact. * For example, an example of termination of metallic or braided shielding of a coaxial cable to a member connected to flat ground is shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,304,069, filed on April 19, 1994, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In that patent, the metallic braids of a plurality of coaxial cables are terminated in a ground connection plate of a high-speed signal transmission terminal module. The conductors / cores of the coaxial cables are terminated in signal terminals of the module. Other examples are shown in U.S. Patents Nos. 5,711,686, dated January 27, 1998; 5,716,236, dated February 10, 1998; 5,718,607, dated February 17, 1998; ,725,387, dated March 10, 1998; and 5,785,555, dated July 28, 1998, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The present invention is directed to further improvements for managing the termination of high-speed coaxial cables, including terminating metal shields of a plurality of cables in a termination member, such as a grounding lug. Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a new and improved electrical connector that includes a system for terminating metal shields of high speed cables. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the connector includes a dielectric housing having a front coupling face and a rear termination face, a plurality of terminal receiving passages extending generally between the faces, and a passage of tongue reception that usually extend between the faces. A plurality of terminals is received in the terminal receiving passages. A conductive grounding tab is received in the tab reception passage. The "grounding" tab includes at least one pair of positioning arms projecting from the grounding tab on the rear termination face of the housing for coupling the metal shields of a pair of coaxial cables. the housing extends between the positioning arms to separate the coaxial cables and maintain the metal shields near the positioning arms As described herein, the housing is molded from a dielectric plastic material, and the division is integrally molded in. The housing includes a shoulder splice for attaching a shoulder splice to the grounding tab to prevent the tongue from coming out of the tongue receiving passage.The grounding tab is generally flat and includes a slot, and the partition comprises a wall projecting through the slot and between the positioning arms. According to one aspect of the invention, a pair of positioning arms project from each opposite side of the grounding lug. A division in the housing extends between each pair of arms to define four quadrants to accommodate four coaxial cables. Four of the terminal reception passages are provided in the housing aligned with the four quadrants to receive four signal terminals. The four terminals have end portions to connect to the inner conductors of the four coaxial cables. According to another aspect of the invention, the housing includes a front housing part having the passages therein for mounting the terminals and the grounding tab. A rear housing part is juxtaposed against the front housing part and includes division. Additional intercoupling splice means are provided between the rear housing part and the grounding lug to prevent the grounding lug from coming out of the tongue receiving passage in the front housing part. Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The characteristics of this invention that are believed to be novel, are established with particularity in the appended claims. The invention together with its objects and advantages thereof, can be better understood by referring to the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers identify similar elements in the Figures and in which: FIGURE . 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector that exemplifies the concepts of the invention; FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the connector; FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the connector; FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the connector; FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the connector; FIGURE 6 is a front perspective view of the connector grounding tab; FIGURE 7 is a rear perspective view of the grounding lug; FIGURE 8 is an exploded perspective view of the two-part housing with the terminals and the grounding lug mounted on the front housing part; FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the housing of two parts of the assembled condition; FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of the rear housing part; FIGURE 11 is a front elevation view of the rear housing part; FIGURE 12 is a rear perspective view showing the assembled front shield of the two-part housing; and FIGURE 13 is a perspective view similar to that of FIGURE 12, with the rear shield fully assembled. Referring to the drawings in great detail, and first to Figures 1-5, the invention is exemplified in an electrical connector, generally designated at 14, that includes an interior electrical housing (described below) substantially surrounded by a shield front, generally designated 16, and a rear shield, generally designated 17. Each shield 16 and 17 is a one-piece structure stamped and formed or drawn from a conductive sheet metal material. The connector is an electrical input / output (I / O) device in which the front shield 16 defines a front coupling face 18 of the connector, and the rear shield 17 defines a rear end face 20. The front face is currently formed by a covering portion 22 of the shield 16 surrounding the projecting contact portions of the three rows of data transmission terminals, generally designated 24. The data transmission terminals are projected through terminal reception passages 26 in the connector housing. A pull tab 28 for conductive ground is projected through a tab reception passage 30 (Figure 2) in the connector housing. A pair of high-speed terminals 32 projects through a pair of terminal receiving passages 34 (Figure 2) into the housing on each opposite side of the grounding tab 28. The termination or end portions 36 and 38 of the data transmission terminals 24 and the high-speed signal terminals 32, respectively, project backward from the rear shield 17 into a rear platform 40 of the connector housing. The front shield 16 has a pair of flanges 42 formed rearwardly on both the top and the bottom thereof to surround the housing as will be seen later. Four tabs 44 formed rearwardly are bent from a base plate 46 of the front shield 16 onto a base plate 48 of the rear shield 17 to secure the front and rear shields around the connector housing. Before proceeding with more details of the interior of the connector and the assembly thereof, reference is made to Figures 6 and 7 which show details of the tongue 28 for conductive ground connection. The tongue is stamped and formed of a sheet metal material. As you can see, the tongue is elongated and generally flat to define a long grounding plate. Projections 50 are stamped on the opposite edges of the grounding tab to establish an interference fit within the housing tab receiving passage 30. A pair of positioning arms 52 project from each opposite side of the grounding tab at the rear termination end 54 thereof. Each positioning arm includes a stamped window 56. The positioning arms are arched to attach a metal shield, such as a metallic braid of a coaxial cable. The positioning arms are welded to the metal shields, and the windows 56 allow the flow of the welding material to be coupled with the shield. A groove 58 is formed in the grounding tab 28. The slot is open at the rear end 54 of the tab and has a closed end 58a defining a splice shoulder, for purposes to be described later. Referring to Figures 8-11, the connector 14 includes a two-part dielectric housing, generally designated at 60, which is formed of a front housing or part of the housing, generally designated at 62, and a rear housing or part of the housing. housing, generally designated at 64. The front housing portion defines a front engagement end 66 of the housing, and the rear housing portion 64 defines a rear end 68 of the housing. The front housing portion includes terminal receiving passages 26 for receiving the data transmission terminals 24, the terminal receiving passages 34 for receiving high-speed signal terminals 32 and tab-receiving passages 30 for receiving the connection tab 28 to Earth. The ends 36 of the data transmission terminals 24 and the ends 38 of the high-speed signal terminals 32 project backward from the front housing portion. The rear end of the grounding tab, which includes positioning arms 52, also projects rearwardly of the front housing part. The front housing part has end notches 70 and top and bottom notches 72 together with flanges 74 projecting up and down. The rear housing portion 64 includes a main transverse fin 76 for splicing against the back of the front housing portion 62 when the housing portions are assembled in the direction of the arrows "A" (Figure 8). The rear housing portion has side wings 78 and top and bottom wings 80 that move within the notches 70 and 72, respectively, of the front housing portion when the two housing portions are assembled as shown in Figure 9. The rear housing portion 64 also has flanges 82 projecting up and down which are juxtaposed with the flanges 74 of the front housing portion when assembled as seen in Figure 9. After they have been assembled the data transmission terminals 24, the high-speed signal terminals 32 and the ground connection tab 28 are mounted in the front housing portion 62, and the rear housing portion 64 is juxtaposed against the front housing part. , the front and rear shields of the connector are assembled to complete the assembly of the connector as shown in Figure 12. More particularly, as can be seen in the Figure 12, the sub-assembly of the two-part housing 60, the data transmission terminals, the high-speed signal terminals and the grounding tab are assembled in the front shield 16 as seen in Figure 12. A portion 84 of imbalance (Figure 8) projecting from the front end 66 of the front housing part is suitably placed within the cover 22 of the front shield. The flanges 42 on the upper bottom part of the base plate 46 of the front shield are then folded into the notches 86 in the top and bottom of the rear housing portion 64, around the flanges 74 and 82 (Figs. 8 and 9) of the front and rear housing part, respectively. Therefore, the tabs 42 of the front shield are effective not only for securing the front shield to the housing 60, but also for clamping the two housing portions 62 and 64 together. The rear shield 17 is then assembled as shown in Figure 13. The rear shield has a cover 88 that substantially encloses the two-part housing except for a platform 40 that extends rearwardly of the rear housing. The cover 88 has openings 90 to accommodate the flanges 42 formed rearward of the front shield. In a final assembly, the flanges 44 of the front shield bend or form around the rear side of the base tab 48 of the rear shield to hold the two shields together and the connector in a fully assembled condition. The invention contemplates a key management system, generally designated as 92 in Figures 1, 4, 5, 12, and 13. Basically, the key management system includes a division structure, generally designated at 94, which is projected from the rear part of the rear housing part and cooperates with the positioning arms 52 of the grounding tab 28 to properly handle and position before the termination a plurality (up to four) of coaxial cables, including termination of the braided metal wires. More particularly, the partition structure 94 includes a pair of divisions or walls 96 that extend in opposite manner which extend between the upper and lower pairs of the positioning arms 52 at the rear end of the grounding tab 28 . The partition walls 96 have inclined inlet surfaces 97 for guiding the cables in their position and retainers 99 to retain the cables after they have been inserted therein. As such, the divisions 96 and positioning arms 52 are effective for dividing the cable management system 92 into four quadrants to receive four coaxial cables. Figure 3 shows the ends 38 of the high-speed signal terminals 32 aligned with the four quadrants defined by the divisions 96 and the positioning arms 56. Figure 3 also shows that the dividing structure 94 has a longitudinal flange pair 98 on each opposite side thereof for receiving therebetween the planar portions of the grounding tab on opposite sides of the slot 58 ( Figures 6 and 7). A surface 100 of the front panel (Figure 13) of the partition structure 94 is spliced against the closed end 58a (Figures 6 and 7) of the slot 58 to prevent the grounding tab from leaving its passage in the housing . In other words, after the grounding lug is inserted into the rear part of the front housing portion 62 as shown in Figure 8, the assembly of the rear housing portion 64 of the front housing part causes the splicing shoulder 100 of the splitting structure to engage the splicing end 58a of the slot 58 in the grounding tab, whereby the rear housing part is effective to prevent the grounding lug from becoming grounded. leave the front housing part. The cable management system 92, ining the dividing structure 94 and the positioning arms 52 of the grounding tab 28, provides a means whereby four high speed signal coaxial cables can be terminated at high speed signal terminals 32 and the tongue 38 ground connection. As is known, each coaxial cable typically has an inner conductor, an inner dielectric surrounding at least a portion of the inner conductor, a metallic shield such as a metallic braid that surrounds at least a portion of the inner dielectric and an outer insulation shell which surrounds the metal shielding and removing a portion of the inner dielectric to expose the inner conductor. The coaxial cables are prepared by removing a portion of the outer covers thereof to expose the portions of the metal shields and removing a portion of the inner dielectric to expose the inner conduit. The cables are then placed in the four quadrants defined by the divisions 96 and the positioning arms 52. When placed in the quadrants, the coaxial cables are placed so that the metal braids are juxtaposed with the positioning arms and can be easily welded thereto with the windows 56 allowing the flow of the welding material to come into engagement with the metallic shield. In addition, the inner conductor is aligned so that it is juxtaposed with the end portion 38 of the signal terminal 32 and can easily be welded. Divisions 96 separate each pair of coaxial cables between each pair of positioning arms 52. It should be understood that the invention can be exemplified in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention should not be limited to the details given herein.

Claims (24)

1. CLAIMS 1. An electrical connector characterized in that it comprises: a dielectric housing including a front coupling end and a rear termination end, a plurality of terminal receiving passages extending generally between the ends, and a tongue receiving passage which usually extends between the ends; - a plurality of terminals received in the terminal receiving passages; a conductive grounding lug received in the tongue receiving passage and including at least one pair of positioning arms projecting from the grounding lug and the rearward termination end of the housing; and an integral division with the accommodation that extends between the placement arms. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing is molded from a dielectric plastic material and the division is molded integrally therewith. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing includes a splice shoulder for coupling a splice shoulder into the grounding tab to prevent the tab from coming out of the tab reception passage. .4. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the ground connection tab is generally flat and includes a slot, and the partition comprises a wall projecting through the slot and between the positioning arms. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a pair of positioning arms projecting from each opposite side of the grounding lug, with a division in the housing extending between each pair of arms to define four quadrants. The electrical connector according to claim 5, characterized in that it includes four of the terminal receiving passages in the housing aligned with the four quadrants to receive four signal terminals. The electrical connector according to claim 5, characterized in that the signal terminals have end portions for connecting to the inner conductors of the four coaxial cables. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing includes a front housing part having the passages therein for mounting the terminals and the grounding tab, and a rear housing part juxtaposed against the part of front housing and that includes division. The electrical connector according to claim 8, characterized in that it includes complementary interconnection coupling means between the rear housing part and the grounding lug to prevent the grounding lug from getting out of the receiving passageway. tongue on the front housing part. An electrical connector characterized in that it comprises: a housing molded from a dielectric material and including a front coupling end and a rear termination end, a plurality of terminal receiving passages extending generally between the ends, and a tongue reception passage generally extending between the ends; a plurality of terminals received in the terminal receiving passages, a generally flat conductive grounding tab received in the tab reception passage and including a pair of positioning arms projecting from each opposite side of the tab ground connection at the rear termination end thereof near the rear termination end of the housing for coupling the metallic shields of four coaxial cables, a groove in the grounding tab near the rear termination end thereof; and a division integrated with the housing and extending between each pair of positioning arms, the division includes a wall projecting through the slot and between the positioning arms. The electrical connector according to claim 10, characterized in that it includes four of the terminal receiving passages in the housing aligned with four quadrants to receive four signal terminals. The electrical connector according to claim 11, characterized in that the signal terminals have end portions for connecting them to the inner conductors of four coaxial cables. The electrical connector according to claim 10, characterized in that the housing includes a front coupling part having the passages therein for mounting the terminals and the grounding lug, and a rear housing part juxtaposed against the part of the front housing and that includes the division. 14. The electrical connector according to claim 13, characterized in that it includes complementary interconnecting splice means between the rear housing part and the grounding lug to prevent the grounding lug from coming out of the tongue receiving passage. in the front housing part. 'fifteen. A termination system for terminating at least one pair of coaxial cables each having an inner conductor, an inner dielectric surrounding at least a portion of the inner conductor, a metal shield surrounding at least a portion of the inner dielectric, and a outer insulation cover that surrounds at least a portion of the metal shield, a portion of the outer cover of each of the wires are removed to expose an exposed portion of the metal shield, characterized in that it comprises: a connector including a dielectric housing; . a plurality of terminals mounted in the housing; a conductive grounding tab mounted in the housing and includes at least a pair of spaced positioning arms for coupling the metal shields in the pair of coaxial cables; and - an integral partition with the housing extending between the positioning arms to separate the coaxial cables and to keep the metal shields close to the positioning arms. 16. The system according to claim 15, characterized in that the housing is molded from a dielectric plastic material and the partition is integrally molded therewith. 17. The system according to claim 15, characterized in that it includes complementary interconnection coupling means between the housing and the grounding lug to prevent the grounding lug from coming out of the housing. • 18. The system in accordance with the claim 15, characterized in that the ground connection tab is generally flat and includes a slot, and the partition comprises a wall projecting through the slot and between the positioning arms. 19. The system in accordance with the claim 15, characterized in that it includes a pair of positioning arms projecting from each opposite side of the grounding tab, with a partition in the housing extending between each pair of arms to define four quadrants to accommodate four coaxial cables .. 20 The system according to claim 15, characterized in that the housing includes a front housing part that mounts the terminals and the grounding plate inside thereof, and a rear housing part juxtaposed against the front housing part and that includes division. The system according to claim 15, characterized in that the signal terminals have end portions for connecting to the inner conductors of the coaxial cables. 22. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning arms include an opening therein. 23. The electrical connector according to claim 10, characterized in that the positioning arms include an opening therein. 24. The system according to claim 15, characterized in that the positioning arms include an opening therein.